Marjorie Elizabeth Lyford, a nurse and nursing professor, was born November 28, 1910, one of three children of Fred Ray and Addie Crowe Lyford. Lyford grew up in northeast Iowa and had nursing preparation in Cedar Falls for a short time before entering Kahler Hospital School of Nursing, in Rochester, Minnesota, to fulfill the requirements for taking the state nursing board examination to become a registered nurse. As a nurse, Lyford worked in the area of public health. She was a school nurse, then later a staff nurse at the Minneapolis Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) and staff nurse and supervisor of the VNA in New Haven, Connecticut. Following this, Lyford became the maternal and child health nursing consultant for the State Health Departments in both San Francisco and Des Moines. Lyford received her B.S.N. in public health from the University of Minnesota in 1939 and her masters degree in public health nursing from the University of Michigan in 1951.

Lyford began her teaching career at the University of Iowa College of Nursing in 1953. During her tenure, Lyford was involved in changes to the curriculum for public and community health courses. In 1965, when telecourses were a new type of instruction, Lyford directed a project that produced videotaped lectures in public health science. Two of Lyford's notable accomplishments were serving as the acting dean of the College of Nursing in 1964 and being the first woman to serve on the University of Iowa's Board in Control of Athletics from 1970 to 1976. Marjorie Lyford retired from teaching in the spring of 1976. Since retirement Lyford has continued her hobby of bird watching and interest in children.

The Marjorie Elizabeth Lyford papers date from 1890 to 1994 and measure 1.3 linear feet. The papers are arranged in six series: Biographical Material, Correspondence, Nursing career, Student years, Teaching career and Family. The papers contain materials pertaining to Marjorie Lyford's family history and her career.

Biographical material (1997-1999) consists of a talk she gave at PEO chapter KP, Iowa City, in 1997 about her childhood, career choice, and a book of poems she wrote.

The Correspondence series (1928-1994) contains letters from Lyford to her parents written during her adult years. The outgoing correspondence, organized by Lyford, is arranged according to the locations where she lived during her years of schooling and professional nursing career before teaching. The communications are congenial and describe Lyford's daily activities and family news.

Only two folders comprise the Nursing career series (1936-1946), one concerning Community Health Services of Minneapolis (1936) and a scrapbook of work as a public health nurse for the infant care program in Des Moines, Iowa from 1944 to 1946. There are clues about Lyford's nursing career in her professional biography in the Teaching career series and in her correspondence.

The School years series (1929-1932, 1982) contains memorabilia and keepsakes from Lyford's years in nurse's training, including a scrapbook from the Kahler School of Nursing with photographs and comments about Lyford's class graduationin 1932 and fiftieth reunion in 1982. A freshman English assignment entitled, "My View of Myself" provides insight into Lyford's personality and attitude toward life and work.

Marjorie Lyford spent over half of her professional life as a professor of nursing and the Teaching career series (1957-1978) is the largest series of these papers. Of interest are Lyford's professional biography and a speech given at the Lillian Wald portrait unveiling at the University of Iowa School of Nursing where she stated her views of public health nursing's history and its role in the future.

The Family series (1892-1993)contains the papers and correspondence of Marjorie Lyford's immediate family and other relatives. Genealogy contains information tracing Marjorie Lyford's ancestry from both parents to the first members of each side to arrive in America. The letters of Fred and Addie Lyford's courtship and correspondence from relatives on the occasion of their marriage in 1903 give insight into the social customs and practices of the turn of the century. Also of interest are an essay attributed to Fred Ray Lyford, papers from his education at Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) and an engineering project on the sewer system of Ithaca, New York. The railroad passes are from the period when Fred Lyford was involved in the survey and construction of the railroad from St. Louis to Kansas City.